Friday, May 2, 2008

Bee-Free Mead

Happy May Day! In honor of my favorite spring holiday, I cracked open the agave mead I began making last February. I mentioned the mead in my post yesterday, and a few people asked for more info. Here's what it looks like in my sweet pimp cup:

Now mind you, I did not drink this entire glass. I just poured it for the picture. This stuff is super strong, and the amount pictured much would put me out for awhile.

Back in February, my friend Leslie (who lives in North Carolina) was visiting Memphis, and she stopped by my house to show me how to make homemade alcohol. Leslie was taking a mead-making class at the time. Mead is traditionally made with yeast, water, and honey. But Leslie and I don't use honey, so she asked her teacher if she could substitute agave nectar, which is pretty much the closest vegans can get to a honey-like substance.

Her teacher said it should work fine, but it still felt a little like an experiment. We weren't totally sure it would work or how it would taste. Another mead-making friend of mine swore it wouldn't work without honey. But he was just hatin'. It actually turned out great! It's super-strong and it doesn't taste bad. As I mentioned yesterday, it tastes like a cross between beer, wine, and rum. Here's what it looked like several months ago:

To make the mead, we boiled about a 1/2 gallon of water and poured that into a 1/2 gallon-sized glass bottle along with 2 cups of agave nectar, and a package of wine yeast (you have to get this at a brewer's shop). I infused mine with jasmine, meadowsweet, and woodruff. Leslie substituted apple juice for water in hers. She hasn't tried it yet, but I bet hers is really sweet.

Once in the glass bottle, we placed a bubble lid thingy on top (I don't know what's its called but it also comes from the brewer's shop). The bottles were stored in a cool, dry place for three months to ferment. During this time, you could see bubbles rising to the top of the bottle. After 3 months, I strained the herbs out and transferred the liquid to glass jars. Now it's ready to drink. Yum!

18 comments:

Way to Bianca! I feel I should mention a few extra things here: please DO NOT add the yeast to very hot water. In the first step just add your water, *honey* and herbs if using. Add the yeast when your brew gets to body temp otherwise you will kill it!Ratio is 1 1/2- 2 cups agave per 1/2 gallon of mead. A bit less than 1/2 of a champagne yeast packet will make a 1/2 gallon for ya. Add as many herbs as you want, just making sure that they will combine well & avoid herbs that are overly bitter (lavender, chammomile, etc)

If using apple juice in place of the water (to make cyser) like I did, then you'll wanna decrease your agave just a bit like down to bout a cup. If you add too much agave to the already sweet juice then it's liable to EXPLODE when fermenting & that would be an icky mess.The bubble things are airlocks. you'll need one of those and a cap to go into your carboy (big glass jug) just ask for em at your friendly neighborhood brewshop.

Usually the longer you let it ferment the better it's flavor will be but don't expect it to be sweet or you'll be in for a surprise!!Have fun & don't be afraid to experiment!

Actually, Witch Mom, yeast is vegan. Like mushrooms, yeast is considered a eukaryotic micro-organism and it's classified in the Fungi kingdom. It is not derived from animal products. Just because something is alive doesn't mean it's not vegan. Sprouts and other "live" raw foods are also living, but they're vegan.

...hrm - so I am doing a wee bit of research on vegan mead options (to make for me mum for the holidays...I know it won't be ready for a while) and I am wondering if one could use the Bee-Free Honee as a substitute instead of Agave.

My name is Bianca ...

About Me

I'm an 11-year vegan, 21-year vegetarian from the Mid-South, not too far from the muddy banks of the Mississippi River. And that means cornbread, butter beans, and collard greens.
These days, I live in Memphis. Check out my cookbook — Cookin' Crunk. It's filled with yummilicious veganized soul food and country classics.